Story+1984-07-31+Detroit,+MI

”This is a song dedicated.....to that golden road of the East....New Jersey Turnpike (cheers)...I end up.....every time I work in the city, I work up in North Jersey....and I always end up riding home.....on this Turnpike out there....it’s usually about....3.30 in the morning....I’m kinda humming along....I’m feeling pretty good.....got the radio down a little bit.....thinking about getting home.....seeing my girlfriend.....raiding her refrigerator....seeing my girlfriend.....raiding her refrigerator....raiding her refrigerator ... I always, when I’m riding along, I visualise myself....making a peanutbutter-and-jelly sandwich (cheers)....so I was riding home this one night....and I’m one of those people that.....I never get gas until I absolutely have to (cheers)...like....I know the exact spot....below ‘E’ that I can drive to....when I’m on ‘E’ , I don’t even think about it yet....as I always figure out....that if I stop at the next, plus I like to gamble, you know, I like to get that thing a little below ‘E’....pass by that station and....I get home faster if I stop at the next gas-station....I was riding, I had....one eye on the....gas gauge ....had the radio on a little bit....was just enjoying myself....then all of a sudden.....I see those red lights in my rearview mirror (boos)....so I pull over....I’m also one of those people....thatnever has his wallet with him (chuckles)(cheers) ....so ....so state trooper comes up, says ‘License, registration’....I don’t have it.....so I give him my name and he goes back to the...it’s in the....squad car and after about five minutes , he calls me back.....and he says....’Hey, are you.....are you that rock and roll singer ?’ (cheers)..... I say....I say ‘Yeah, that’s me, that’s me’.....he says ‘I got some of your albums home’ ....I say ‘Yeah?’, he says ‘Yeah’....he says ‘Well, son, you’re in a lot of trouble’ (cheers)....so he said I had all these unpaid parking tickets and....things....which I’d already paid for but he took me down to the station.....and as I sat there.....waiting for.....somebody to come and get me....I was inspired.....to write this next song... just in case I die during the night....so you wouldn’t have to read about all this stuff in the National Enquirer (cheers).... (....) Well, they....they finally let me out on my own. (?)....but they kept my automobile.... so I was walking down the highway....it was 4.30 in the morning....and I seen this cafe....and I went in.....and there was this waitress there....and she just said....’Don’t worry, honey....’cause we’re open....all night..... (....)Now you know the whole story.....”
 * 31.07.84 Detroit, MI, intro to ‘Open All Night’:**

”This is....this is a song about, they say....they say all that new technology and stuff is supposed to be.....bringing people closer together.....but it seems like there’s more people today that......feel isolated from their jobs and isolated from their.....friends and....from your families.....and the government....till you get a.....certain feeling of powerlessness....”
 * 31.07.84 Detroit, MI, intro to ‘Nebraska’:**

”How’s the band doing right up here ?.....we....we lost somebody....gotta check on.... you guys alright ?.....alright, is the people alright out there ? (cheers)....now, what we wanna know....what I wanna know is there anybody out there as old as me ? (cheers) ....only a few (chuckles)....is there anybody out there as old as Clarence ? (cheers).... you guys ain’t that old (chuckles)....this is a song about....the clock ticking away (chuckles)....”
 * 31.07.84 Detroit, MI, intro to ‘Glory Days’:**

”Thanks, thank you....this is a song about.....’bout old cars...(?) one, two....but uh....my father, I had a bedroom that was.....out over the backyard.....and my dad used to pull the car right up on the lawn at night...so he wouldn’t have to walk too far in the morning, I guess (chuckles)...I remember every morning at six a.m, the first sound I’d hear would be him.....opening the hood....of some old car he’d bought....trying to get it started so he could go to work....and he always bought, I remember he had one car.... that ran pretty good except it wouldn’t go in reverse....but you’d never, you’d never know when it wouldn’t go in reverse....I remember me and him.....always pushing it backwards out of all those parking spaces (chuckles)...and he had....one that the muffler fell off of all the time....he used to have it down, like he’d keep his eye out for the cops and if he’d see ‘em, he shut off the engine and it goes by.....knew all the, knew all the tricks....but me and my sister used to always be begging him to get a convertible....and he always wanted one....still to this day, when I go home, he says ‘You know....I’m thinking....I’m thinking of getting a convertible now’....he’s been thinking about it for 30 years....”
 * 31.07.84 Detroit, MI, intro to ‘Used Cars’:**

”Now in the beginning....created the heavens and the Earth.....and He separated the light from the darkness....and he called the light the day......and he called the darkness the night.....and through the night he rode.....in his Cadillac.....”
 * 31.07.84 Detroit, MI, intro to ‘Cadillac Ranch’:**

”This is a song about...just trying to find something to hold on to, I guess.....it’s hard to do today....this is for Dave.....this is uh.....I always consider myself....pretty lucky..... ‘cause I found something that I really love to do when I was really young.....you know, I dreamed something....and then it came true for me.....and I get to....I get to live out a piece of my dream every night so.....here’s hoping you get to live yours....”
 * 31.07.84 Detroit, MI, intro to ‘No Surrender’:**

”There we were.....it was a night....just like tonight (cheers)...long time ago....I’d met Clarence a little while before that....and we were trying to decide what we were gonna do with our lives.....Clarence was working at a pizza parlor.....I was working in the laundromat....we had no direction....we didn’t know what to do with ourselves....we were lost, confused...it was pretty scary.....and then one night to raise my spirits.... Clarence said that he knew these two girls.....a little ways outside of town and that we should visit them....I decided this was a good idea.....and so we got into Clarence’s car....and we drove....and we drove....and we drove....and we were on this dark backroad.....and then all of a sudden...we had a flat...it was so dark....that we didn’t wanna get out of the car...we couldn’t decide whether to roll up the windows and lock ourselves in.....or get out to see if we had a spare.....I don´t wanna get out, you wanna get out ?....I choose (?)....no, no, you go....it’s your car, you got the flat, come on, come on.....I won, then I got out to see if we had a spare (chuckles)(cheers).....no spare....so Clarence said that he thought...he knew where there was a gas-station way on the other side of these woods....now, the woods were dark and spooky....there were sounds coming from everywhere (cheers)....and we started to make our way down this dark path....Clarence, there.....there ain’t no wild animals in this woods or anything ?... no ?...so we were walking along....now, you’re sure there ain’t no wild animals in the woods, right ?.....no ?...I think I hear something, I think I hear something behind us.... let’s check it...(?) so we walked on a little further.....Clarence, I think, I think I hear something behind us (?).....(yells).....I took off....but then I didn´t know where Clarence went.....Big Man !....Big Man ! .....where are you ?.....Big Man !...Hey Big Man !...Big Man !....jeeze,don’t do that, don’t do that.....we were pretty nervous.... then all of a sudden.....we see something shoot out of the sky.....and over in the clearing....in the full moon....we saw....the answers to our quest....and then.....when we touched.....”
 * 31.07.84 Detroit, MI, middle of ‘Growin’Up’:**

”In a little cafe.....on the other side of the border.... (...) Ladies and gentlemen....let me introduce to you....the members of the E Street Band.... beginning to the far left.....the one, the only, the intelligent, the educated, the incredible Professor Roy Bittan on the piano (cheers)....let’s....then on the vocals....alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Miss Patti Scialfa (cheers)....on the drums, the thunderous, the wondrous, the blunderous, the one, the only Mighty Max Weinberg (cheers).... on the bass, his mother was a talent, his father was a talent, Mr.Garry W.Tallent (cheers)....on the organ, the incredible, the unbelievable, the immovable, the irreprovable, the unfathomable and I’ve known him (?), I still can’t figure him out.... Phantom Dan Federici on the organ (cheers)....and on the guitar, (?) drumroll please.... Mr. Nils Lofgren .....(Nils does his trampoline stunt) (cheers)....and now last....but not least....a man....what can I say about the man that hasn’t already been said.....close personal friend of mine....the king of the world....the master of the universe....the emperor of all things.....and the next President of the United States (cheers)...gimme a C....L....A....R.....E....N.....C....E.....what’s that spell ?....what’s that spell ?....what’s that spell ?....my buddy, Clarence Big Man Clemons (cheers)....”
 * 31.07.84 Detroit, MI, intro to ‘Rosalita’:**

”Thanks....I’d like to...I’d like to thank everybody for coming down to the shows we’ve done here in Detroit (cheers)....just wanna say....you did your part....thanks for treating us so great.....here’s good luck, God bless.....”
 * 31.07.84 Detroit, MI, intro to ‘Born to Run’:**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//